Jones, 32, told Harper’s Bazaar how she grilled director Ron Howard about her character in Inferno before agreeing to take the part.

She plays Dr Sienna Brooks alongside Tom Hanks’ character Robert Langdon in the film. It is the third in a series of adaptations of Dan Brown’s best-selling books, following 2006’s The Da Vinci Code and 2009’s Angels & Demons.

She said: “I was very keen when I met Ron Howard originally to make sure that she wasn’t just running after Langdon as a two-dimensional sidekick, that she was a fully fledged character — and he was very determined that she was too.

“You read things like, ‘He grabs her by the arm and pulls her along’, but there’s an appetite for both men and women to be interesting, complicated characters. Audiences don’t want to see stereotypes any more on screen.”

Inferno - trailer

Jones, who grew up in Bournville, near Birmingham, after her parents met while working on a local newspaper, learned her trade on The Archers, playing Emma Grundy in Radio 4’s rural soap for a decade from the age of 15.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story trailer breakdown

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story trailer breakdown

1/22
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

The first Star Wars ‘spin-off’ is set immediately prior to the original 1977 film, telling the story of the Rebel group who stole the all-important Death Star plans from the Empire

Lucasfilm/Disney

2/22
She’s a Rebel

Felicity Jones takes the lead as Jyn Erso, who leads the team of Rebels on a daring mission

Lucasfilm/Disney

3/22
Familiar face

Forest Whitaker stars as Saw Gerrera, a character who first appeared in the Clone Wars animated TV series. “Imperial flags rain across the galaxy,” he warns of the Empire’s increasing prominence

Lucasfilm/Disney

4/22
Weapon of mass destruction

An Imperial Star Destroyer ship looms – but they’re not the biggest weapon the Empire has

Lucasfilm/Disney

5/22
“Can you be trusted without your shackles?”

Jyn is a former criminal, a prisoner of the Rebel Alliance – it seems she may have no choice but to accept their mission

Lucasfilm/Disney

6/22
Blast from the past

That’s Mon Mothma, a character who originally appeared in Episode VI: Return of the Jedi – this time played by Genevieve O’Reilly. “A major weapons test is imminent,” she explains. “We need to know how to destroy it.”

Lucasfilm/Disney

7/22
That’s no moon

That weapon? The Death Star, of course!

Lucasfilm/Disney

8/22
Nothing compares 2 U-wing

Star Wars fans love a new ship design to geek out over, and here’s one that’s never appeared in the franchise before – the U-wing. It’s primarily a drop-ship used in battles

Lucasfilm/Disney

9/22
Soldier for hire

Meet the excellently-named Baze Malbum, played by Jiang Wen. He’s a ‘freelance assassin’ who forms part of Jyn’s team

Lucasfilm/Disney

10/22
Evil spreading

The grip of the Empire is tightening – with tanks of Stormtroopers parading the streets

Lucasfilm/Disney

11/22
Blind warrior

Chirrut Îmwe may be blind, but you wouldn’t want to fight him. He’s not quite a Jedi, but he does believe in the Force. He’s one of Baze’s close friends

Lucasfilm/Disney

12/22
Exchanging pleasantries

Meet K-2SO, a blunt and frank droid played in motion capture by Firefly’s Alan Tudyk. “The Captain says you are a friend,” he tells Jyn. “I will not kill you.”

Lucasfilm/Disney

13/22
On the move

The Death Star appears to be moving – is it being lined up to blow up a planet in a show of force?

Lucasfilm/Disney

14/22
The baddie

Isn’t that just a brilliant bad-guy face? Ben Mendelsohn plays Director Orson Krennic, tasked with protecting the security of the Death Star. A certain respirationally-challenged leader of the Empire won’t be pleased with his efforts, we imagine…

Lucasfilm/Disney

15/22
Trouble in paradise

Here’s something we’ve never seen in Star Wars before – a beach battle. This tropical sequence looks to be on a similar scale to the Empire Strikes Back’s Hoth attack, but with added palm trees. These black-armoured soldiers are subtly-named Death Troopers

Lucasfilm/Disney

16/22
Unclear motives

Riz Ahmed plays Bodhi Rook, the pilot of Jyn’s team. Intriguingly he has an Imperial logo on his shoulder – is this a disguise that the team wears to execute their plan? Or is he an bad guy turned good?

Lucasfilm/Disney

17/22
New model

This may look like the classic AT-AT from the Empire Strikes Back, but it’s a much sleeker design. This one’s an AT-ACT – an All Terrain Armoured Cargo Transport

Lucasfilm/Disney

18/22
Get hype

The crew make the jump to hyperspace

Lucasfilm/Disney

19/22
Sticky situation

The crew make the jump to hyperspace

Lucasfilm/Disney

20/22
The gangs all here

Jyn’s team bundle into the U-wing as they prepare for their mission

Lucasfilm/Disney

21/22
The hero's journey

The gang is together, the mission is about to begin – and Jyn is ready to become a hero

Lucasfilm/Disney

22/22
Last gasp

Oh, and before we’re done – here’s Darth Vader, appearing in a Star Wars film for the first time since 2005’s Revenge of the Sith. With one menacing breath, he’s made the entire audience’s hair stand on end

Lucasfilm/Disney

She said her family “listens religiously” to the show, which recently pulled in thousands of new listeners with a storyline centred around the trial of Helen Titchener, who had fought back against her abusive husband.

Jones said: “The Archers has always been brilliant at getting people swept up by a story. Radio 4 is actually part of the reason why I like living in England.”

Her biggest break came two years ago when she was nominated for the best actress Oscar for her portrayal of Professor Stephen Hawking’s wife Jane opposite Eddie Redmayne in The Theory Of Everything. She was cast in Rogue One and said she pushed herself so hard physically playing heroine Jyn Erso it was “like being in a circus”.

She hopes to keep acting “into my wizened old age” and have children. She said: “From what I can see from friends and relatives, women get stronger and more decisive from having children, they don’t waste their time doing things they don’t want to.”

Read the full interview in the Harper’s Bazaar November issue, on sale October 3. Also available as a digital edition.